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26 Using the Drug Calculator Performing Drug Calculations
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Performing Drug Calculations
Using the service Support Tool, a list of drugs can be configured for the monitor containing pre-
defined dosage recommendations and unit settings. Selecting the arrow beside the drug name in the
Drug Calculator window opens a list of configured drugs. Contact your pharmacist if you have any
questions about the drugs in the list.
If Any Drug is the only entry in the list of drugs, no drugs have been preconfigured for your
monitor. Drug calculations can be performed for non-specific drugs.
You must have a Support Tool to add additional drugs to the Drug Calculator.
About the Rule of Six
If the Rule of Six has been enabled for use with individual drugs in your Drug Calculator, you can use
the formula in crisis situations to quickly calculate the amount of a drug needed to yield a target dose
for continuous infusion for neonatal or pediatric patients (the drug amount is given in “mg”, the
patient weight in “kg”). The Rule of Six can only be used with the dose unit mcg/kg/min.
CAUTION JCAHO recommends disabling the Rule of Six. The configuration is not JCAHO-compliant if Rule of
Six is enabled.
The Drug Calculator uses the following formula for Rule of Six calculations, based on the patient’s
weight:
• For a target dose of 0.1 mcg/kg/min, the Drug Calculator multiplies 0.6 x patient weight to
calculate the amount you need to add to the IV solution to equal a total of 100 ml.
• For a target dose of 1.0 mcg/kg/min, the Drug Calculator multiplies 6.0 x patient weight to
calculate the amount you need to add to the IV solution to equal a total of 100 ml.
Performing Calculations for a Non-Specific Drug
If a list of drugs has not been configured for your monitor,
you can use the Drug Calculator to calculate drug doses for a
single, generic drug called “Any Drug”. Selecting the arrow
beside the drug name in the Drug Calculator window shows
that are no other drugs configured.
1 Enter three of these four values: dose, amount, volume,
and rate of the infusion solution.
To enter values, select the correct unit, then select each
value field and use the pop-up keypad to enter the correct
value.
2 If you have chosen a weight-dependent dose unit, you
must enter the patient weight now or choose a different
unit.
If available, the patient weight from the Patient Demographic window is entered
automatically in the Drug Calculator window when the Drug Calculator is accessed. To change the
patient weight, select the Weight key then use the on-screen keypad to enter the correct value.
This will not change the patient weight stored in the patient demographic information.
Drug Calculator
ANY DRUG
Dose
2
Rate 480
Amount
25
Volume
100
mg/min
mg
ml
ml/hour
Concentr
0.25
mg/ml
1 ml/hr
0.004
mg/min
Weight
150
lb